in one of nick lodge's dvd, he puts the pearls in a plastic bag, puts some pearl dust or white sparkle dust(sparkle dust is what he is showing) and then a few drops of vodka(or everclear,etc) close bag. shake bag, then pour out onto a dish or something. works beautifully.hth some people just put them in a plastic bowl, put pearl dust over them, put lid on and shake bowl nicely. this is good also. you can do colored dust the same way(the last way i told)

For the lusterdust: you just put the dried balls into a small box with a lid. Add lusterdust and shake gently.For the painting: what about arranging them already on the cake and then painting them? that should be a lot easier to handle...